...and if you get hit by a fire poi.

I have just received my fire poi in the mail sp I have been reaeding up on all of the safety stuff. What I'm wondering is what do you do if you hit yourself. I have gotten pretty decent at not doing this, but it happens once in a while.

I'm assuming that If I'm spinning fast enough my clothes aren't going to catch, but if i am doing a BTB butterfly and if I bring it in front again and I hit my leg is my leg going to light up?

What have been your experiences? Am I just a little paranoid?

a little nervous for the first time...

MATT

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I dreamt that I ate a 10 pound marshmellow and then when I woke up, my pillow was gone!

I can only say, from a firestaff point of view, that I personally have never been burnt. I get the occasional sooty mark where i've hit myself but that's about it.

Unless ur an extra flammable person (ie. wear synthetics or are haighly flatulent) you won't go up. Singed clothes, flyaway hairs and dead moths (*sniff*!) are about the worst extent.
and NEVER EVER:
* do leg wraps wearing synthetic pants.
* listen to Boyzone.
* twirl near your fuel

If you do any of the above will end up having burnt pants.

[This message has been edited by Bender_the_Offender (edited 22 March 2002).]

how about quick wrist wraps? I do a wrist wrap where the head gets pretty close to skin.. if I were wearing a 100% cotton long sleeve shirt, think I would be ok?

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I dreamt that I ate a 10 pound marshmellow and then when I woke up, my pillow was gone!

W'MAtt - It all depends on what type of clothing you are wearing, there's lots of info on the main page to the right (glossary, fire safety etc).

The worst "hit" injuries I've seen has been synthetic material that has melted and stuck to the skin afterwards, pretty nasty stuff.

You pour water or something on it and the top of the gunk cools while the underneath keeps burning, and then the burnt flesh creates a seal between the plastic and the rest of you and it takes ages for the heat to stop making the burn worse

Read carefully through the "fire safety" page and you can avoid this risk completely.

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Charles (AKA INFERNO)

newdolbel@hotmail.com
http://juggle.co.nz/fire/fire.html

My advice would be: Don't spark them and immediately start doing wraps. Let the fuel burn off a bit before doing so. On a more personal note, I have hit my pants and set them on fire. When I went to pat them and extinguish the flames I forgot about the momentum and hit my shoulder with a poi. It's turned into a nice scar now. So you really should be careful and do what it takes to avoid contact. I also have a permanent mark on my forehead (not even gonna explain) from the poi. So be careful. Best of luck to you.

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-M@TT

Keep the fire burning.

I have been performing safety for my group for about a year . We usually just get the soot marks as mentioned above. Only once have I had to extinguish a flame on someone.She was wearing a decorative head wrap and the poi hit her on top of the head setting her wrap on fire. I was their immediately with my wet towels to put it out.
The only damage was a slightly burnt head peice.

You need to have someone you really trust to be sober and watching your every move. Never wear synthetics.